By Jim Shilander, Courtesy Herald-Republican, reprint by permission.

ANGOLA — Fight night seems like chaos.

Saturday night, as mixed martial artists from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan came to fight at the Forum on North Wayne Street, it might have seemed like only slightly organized chaos. But Thomas Duncan, one of the biggest men there, is a picture of quiet serenity, even as he prepares to put himself at risk.

Duncan, 27, moved to Angola as a teenager from Benton Harbor, Mich., in order to escape the gang life there. A little under a year ago, a friend passed away, Duncan said. That friend wanted Duncan to try his hand at mixed martial arts.

“He told me to come try this out before he passed away,” Duncan said. “I can fight, that was it.”

Although he knew how to fight a little bit, Duncan said, stepping into the cage for the first time and being confronted with someone who knew what he was doing was a different matter.

“I just went and fought the first time,” Duncan said. “I fought a guy named Noel Gomez. He put it to me. From there it made me a humbler person.”

That humbling, he said made him open his life to religion.

“I just gave my life to the Lord,” Duncan said.

Fred Morgan, who ministers at The Hill, the young adult outreach from Fairview Missionary Church, is close to Duncan. Morgan said Duncan has asked him about some of the things he’s tried to do to blend his faith and his avocation. As he walked to his fight Saturday, Duncan wore a Fairview Missionary Church T-shirt on the way to the ring, and then had a biblical verse and “The Hill,” written quite literally on his back.

“I told him I thought it was great,” Morgan said. “A lot of the people who attend the fights aren’t Christians. I see it as taking a light into the darkness.”

Morgan said he really believes that Duncan’s peace during the stressful moments before his fights comes from his faith. Saturday, many of The Hill’s members went to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Before they left, Duncan asked them to pray for him.

“I definitely think that it’s God’s spirit in him that people see. His faith plays a real part in his peacefulness,” Morgan said.

Duncan said his training, which he began in earnest three months ago, usually stresses cardio, in order to keep up with the pace of a fight. “Everybody can swing,” Duncan said. “It’s just if you can swing and keep breathing.”

In tight situations, like if an opponent is on top of him, Duncan said he focuses on not panicking.

“The best thing to do is to stay calm,” he said. In order to avoid that panic, Duncan typically works out with someone on top of him.

While he typically only fights once a month, Duncan said he can see himself progressing as a fighter since he began training.

“Before I was nervous. Nerves are huge,” Duncan said. “My first fight, as soon as they locked the cage door I was like ‘Wow, I’m not sure I want to do this.’ Afterwards I puked for like 30 minutes.”

In the final seconds before his fight, petroleum jelly is put on Duncan’s face. The last thought he has before entering the cage, he said, is now “In god we trust.”

Duncan’s calm extends to the fight itself. He’s a large man, but Saturday he’s pitted against an opponent from the Fort Wayne Dragon’s Den training center, Jim Owsley, who’s just as big. As the first round begins, Duncan and Owsley stalk each other, neither wanting to give away position or give up an opening. As punches are exchanged, they grapple to the side of the cage. Owsley seems ready to try to choke him out, but Duncan frees himself from the hold. More strikes (punches in MMA speak) are exchanged, then all of a sudden, with about 30 seconds left in the three-minute round, Duncan wrestles Owsley to the ground. More strikes are exchanged, and a faint bell is heard, warning that there’s 10 seconds left. Duncan seemingly gets his fourth or fifth wind and begins hitting Owsley again. Then it’s over, just as the bell rings to end the round.

Duncan grabs the cage and climbs to the top, arms extended in victory. The crowd, which wanted to see the local win, is the loudest it’s been all night. The official call, 2:59 of the first round, stopped due to tapout (submission) due to strikes.

Duncan greets his brother Keith, who’s also fighting, after the bout.

“It was the last second, I thought he’d hold on,” Duncan said. When he heard the warning bell, he said it was time to dig deep. “I said, ‘I’m going to give everything I’ve got right now.’”

Because he sells tickets to the fight events to help make money, Duncan’s success moves with that of his promotion. Entertainment, he said, is ultimately what’s important.

“It’s not about winning and losing as much as having a good fight,” Duncan said. “People come here to see a good fight.”